


Butterfly Laden

by BabylonsFall



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:10:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23474392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabylonsFall/pseuds/BabylonsFall
Summary: Eddie wakes up on his birthday, and for one moment, everything is great. Buck's in the kitchen with Chris, and they're trying to be sneaky about making breakfast, and Eddie can't think of one thing wrong with the world.And then he remembers a couple things. Like the fact that Buck shouldn't be there, because he does not live there, and that is not his life.(The world's still right, it just takes a moment for Eddie to catch up.)
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 23
Kudos: 680





	Butterfly Laden

**Author's Note:**

> So, literally a month (and a day) ago, I asked for prompts over on tumblr, and I was given this delightful gem by [blaineandsamevanderson](https://blaineandsamevanderson.tumblr.com/): _On his birthday, Eddie wakes up to smell food cooking. Christopher asked Buck to come over an help him make breakfast for Eddie and he goes out to see Buck and Chris standing at the stove, laughing and he feels so happy and realizes he's in love._
> 
> And then life happened and it's now super later but I really like how it came out, and I really hope you do too!

Eddie doesn’t know what woke him up.

There’s nothing immediately there to clue him in either, and if it weren’t for the suddenness with which he’d snapped his bleary eyes open, he’d be willing to put it off as just. The natural process of the morning.

He frowns at the wall slightly, listening carefully into the silent house for any kind of clue.

No, wait, not silent.

He hears the clang of cutlery hitting a pan, then a quick ‘shh shh’ that he could pick out of a crowd because Chris was still working on fine tuning his subtlety, followed by a deeper rumble of a muffled laugh that he could also pick out of a damn crowd, because Buck had never tried for subtlety in his life.

So, just Buck and Chris in the kitchen. Nothing urgent then.

Eddie can _feel_ his body sliding back into sleepy looseness, his eyes already drooping closed again - it’s his day off and his kid is cared for, he wants to sleep in dammit - when a couple things click into place.

Well, less things more questions.

Like, one - and this one was really the biggest - what the hell was Buck doing here?

And two - the one that was actually the biggest and one he was resolutely ignoring - why was his immediate reaction to Buck being here _all clear_?

(And three - wow was he really trying to convince himself he didn’t know the answer to two? His denial ran deeper than he’d thought.)

(Except it really, really didn’t, because Eddie knew his crush on his best friend was pathetic on the best of days, and all-consuming on the worst. God, that one moment of peace - of feeling like everything was right with the world and everyone was where they should be (where he _wanted_ them to be) was going to haunt his best dreams for the next few months, and he couldn’t even work up the energy to pretend to be mad about it.)

Eddie groaned, burying his face in his pillow for a long moment. It was his day off. He didn’t need something this confusing (this _perfect_ ) so early.

There’s another clang and another muffled laugh - including one from Chris this time, which, no matter the situation, would always make Eddie grin - and Eddie decides to face the inevitable. He takes long enough to grab a shirt, hauling it over his head and following it with a weak attempt at taming what he was sure was some pretty spectacular bedhead before slipping quietly out of his room.

There’s a pretty good chance Buck and Chris wouldn’t have noticed if he’d bolted out there yelling.

Without the door to muffle it, he can now hear the two of them giggling and whisper-shouting to each other almost constantly, and when Eddie peaks around the corner into the kitchen, he finds Buck bent over the stove, Chris sitting on the counter next to him, both of them intent on whatever it is Buck is doing.

Eddie leans in the doorway for a long moment, no longer feeling the sense of _need to know_ that had driven him from bed. Chris is still in his pjs, his hair an impressive nest of curls, and the smile on his face could light up Eddie’s whole damn world. There’s also an impressive spot of...flour? On the tip of his nose and smeared across his cheek.

He can only see Buck’s back, but Chris’ smile somehow gets bigger and brighter each time Buck looks over at him. From his vantage point, Eddie also sees Buck flip out a pancake onto a slowly growing stack on the other side of the stove that he hadn’t noticed at first.

“We’re just about done, buddy. You wanna go get your dad? And remember,” Buck turns enough to face Chris, pressing his finger to his lips and giving Eddie a good look at his profile and the truly impressive smear of flour across his eyebrow that looks suspiciously like a handprint, “This is a surprise right? So, ‘happy birthday,’ loud as you can, then get his grumpy butt out here, right?”

‘Happy birthday’?

...Oh. Eddie had completely forgotten about that. But from the look of giddy determination on Chris’ face, he hadn’t. And he’d probably been the one to plan this whole thing - whatever this whole thing was.

And from the sounds of things, Buck was, if not an accomplice, then a completely willing participant.

It was the ass-crack of dawn, on his and Buck’s one day off that week. And here he was in Eddie’s kitchen, with Eddie’s kid, looking as giddy as could be about making Eddie a birthday breakfast, when Eddie hadn’t even remembered what day it was, let alone made any kind of big deal about it in the last week.

Eddie didn’t really know what to do with the butterflies currently lighting up his chest.

Buck nods seriously before breaking out in a grin to rival Chris’ before reaching over to help him down from the counter. “Go get ‘im, tiger.”

Which is about the time both of them notice Eddie leaning in the doorway.

The synchronized freeze and matching wide eyes was something Eddie would’ve given almost anything for a picture of.

And, now that he could actually look at both of them, it looked like their faces weren’t the only casualties of what had to have been an epic flour battle. He’s more impressed there’s none on the counter or floor, really.

“Good morning.” Eddie says, unable to resist.

Chris just about whirls around on Buck, Buck’s hand on his shoulder keeping him steady, one hand pointed up at him, accusatory and matter of fact, “I told you it was too loud.” 

And Buck takes a moment, blinking between Eddie, then down at Chris, then back at Eddie before just shaking his head with a laugh, holding his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, you were right. I still don’t see why the plan won’t work. He’s just already dragged his grumpy butt out here.”

Chris ponders that for a moment before turning back to Eddie. A decision seems to be made a moment later, as he hurries over to Eddie in what could by all accounts be called a tackle-hug, yelling, “Happy birthday!”

And Eddie just _melts_ , leaning down enough to scoop a now laughing Chris up and swinging him around with a kiss to his cheek, “Thank you, mijo,” he gets out through multiple more kisses that make Chris giggle and squirm in his arms. 

Eddie feels like he’s damn near glowing by the time he looks over at Buck, who’s leaning against the counter, arms crossed loosely over his chest, just watching the two of them with this...this _look_ that sparks the butterflies still taking up space where Eddie’s lungs are supposed to be. His smile is so damn soft, it’s mostly crinkling around his eyes, and he’s just...watching the two of them like he’s got nothing better to do at six in the morning on a Saturday. Like there’s nothing he _wants_ to do, other than be right there.

“If it’s any consolation, this is still a pretty big surprise.” Eddie offers after a moment - throwing it into that awkward quiet between his laughter and Buck’s quiet smile that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

“I asked Buck to help because Abuela said you’d probably forget again,” Chris pipes up, either oblivious to the way Eddie’s voice doesn’t fit in the suddenly full space between him and Buck, or all too aware and breaking it like the wonderful whirlwind he is.

“Oh, she did, did she?” Eddie asks, looking back to his son and feeling himself smile without much control from him. “Well...yeah, she was right.”

“Like she normally is.” Chris adds, the ever loyal grandson.

“Like she normally is,” Eddie agrees with a laugh as he presses another kiss into Chris’ curls. “Well, since it _is_ my birthday, I’m voting breakfast and cartoons. Wanna go find some good ones for us?” The question’s barely out of his mouth before Chris is nodding eagerly, and Eddie can’t say no to that, so he sets him down and off Chris goes.

Eddie watches him go for a moment before looking back at Buck and...no, the smile’s still there, and Eddie can _feel_ his heart skip. The butterflies are gone, leaving him instead with this _want_ tugging somewhere just behind his heart. He’s pretty sure he couldn’t stop his feet if he wanted to, let’s the pull bring him up in front of Buck - watches Buck’s smile finally move, as his nose scrunches up and his head tilts to the side.

“You okay there Diaz?” Buck asks, and it could be teasing. Could be questioning, or curious, or insistent. But instead, it’s gentle. Coaxing Eddie back into his head, and encouraging the tugging at his core to ease up.

Eddie can’t really say what’s on his mind - he doesn’t have the words for the gulf he just stepped across in both the kitchen and in his own head.

‘Crush’ didn’t begin to cover what Eddie had for Buck. Couldn’t cover the sheer simplicity of it.

But Eddie...god, Eddie didn’t know if he could admit what he was slowly yet impossibly quickly realizing. So, instead? He reaches up a hand to brush away some of the flour still sticking to Buck’s temple.

And Buck pauses then, tilting his head into the touch without much thought it seems.

And there’s that small smile again - the one that crinkles his eyes and leaves an imprint in light and little else. “C’mon, birthday boy. Earth-shattering revelations are for _after_ breakfast.” Eddie’s pretty sure Buck’s moving to get them to the living room, but he just can’t _not_ , not after that confirmation - so he ducks in, stealing one sweet, butterfly laden kiss before pulling back again.

This time, Buck’s smile is in more than just his eyes.

It’s in his next kiss, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are greatly loved and appreciated! 💛
> 
> (and while I make no promises about speed, clearly, I do take buddie prompts over on [tumblr](https://the-one-eighteen.tumblr.com/), or just come say hi and rant about this amazing show with me!)


End file.
